Karnataka Elephant for Bibi Ka Alam Procession in Hyderabad

Hyderabad, July 12: The government of Karnataka has agreed to provide an elephant for the historic Bibi Ka Alam procession in Hyderabad, scheduled to be held on July 17.
The elephant will carry the ‘alam’ (standard) during the procession organised on Youm-e-Ashura.
Telangana’s forest minister Konda Surekha approached her Karnataka counterpart Eshwar Khandre and requested him to make the elephant available for the annual procession.
HEH The Nizam’s Religious Trust, which is the custodian of the Bibi Ka Alam, had also written to the government requesting for the procession.
The forest department of Karnataka had expressed some reservations over transfer of elephants in view of the Central government tweaking rules for inter-state transportation of captive elephants.
Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy had asked the government advisor for minority affairs Mohammed Ali Shabbir to contact the Karnataka government. Shabbir spoke to Karnataka forest minister and assured him that all precautions will be taken while handling the jumbo.
This female elephant named Rupavati belongs to Shri Jagadguru Panchacharya Mandir Trust in Davangere, Karnataka. The 34-year-old elephant will be under control of Telangana forest department from July 14 to July 29.
After the Bibi Ka Alam procession on July 17, the same elephant will be used for Bonalu processions on July 22, 28 and 29 in different parts of Hyderabad.
For decades Rajini, the elephant owned by the HEH The Nizam’s Trust and kept in Nehru Zoological Park was used for carrying the standard during the procession. However, following an order by the High Court in 2019 that ‘captive elephant cannot be kept in zoo and used for religious procession’, the jumbo is not being used in any religious procession, including Bonalu and Muharram.
Since then, organisers of various processions have been bringing elephants from other states across the country to organise processions.
Moharram procession dates back to the regime of Qutub Shahi King Abdullah about 400 years ago. It is said Abdullah’s mother Hayat Bakshi Begum had initiated the annual procession. Camels, horses and elephants were used for the procession during Qutub Shahi period.